Pubdate: Wed, 30 Aug 2017
Source: Asbury Park Press (NJ)
Copyright: 2017 Asbury Park Press
Contact:  http://www.app.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/26

TOP 10 STATES WHERE DRUG DEALERS GET LONGEST AVERAGE PRISON

Drug dealers convicted on federal trafficking charges received the
stiffest sentences from federal court judges last year in the Midwest
and the Southeast.

But the longer sentences are more driven by the type of drugs common
in different states rather than judges in one region being tougher on
drugs than counterparts elsewhere.

In many states with longer average sentences, methamphetamines were
the most prevalent drugs in these federal cases, according to a USA
Today Network analysis of U.S. Sentencing Commission data.

Think your loved one might be addicted to drugs? Watch the video above
for signs to look for.

Federal drug cases use guidelines to advise how judges should sentence
cases based on a comparison to marijuana. Having 1 gram of heroin, for
example, would result in a sentence similar to that of a kilogram of
marijuana.

But a dealer with 1 gram of pure meth can expect a sentence similar to
having 20 kilograms of pot, said Jennifer Mammenga, an assistant U.S.
Attorney in South Dakota who prosecutes meth cases.

"You don't have a pound of meth anymore," she said. "You have meth
coming in from Mexico in higher quantities and purity that is
incredibly high. You don't see under 95 percent purity."

Those elements all factor into the higher drug trafficking sentences,
she said.

Nationally, about a third of federal drug cases involved meth while
some states, like South Dakota, had meth involved in as many as 80
percent to 90 percent of their federal drug cases.

Meth cases netted offenders an average of 87 months in prison,
compared with 63-month average prison sentences for heroin traffickers
and a 26-month average for marijuana dealers, according to U.S.
Sentencing Commission data.

Heroin cases, however, were predominate in a swath of states running
from the greater Washington D.C. area to the Great Lakes region.

That includes places like Ohio, West Virginia and New Jersey, where
the opioid epidemic has devastated communities.

The federal data shows meth and heroin trafficking cases have been on
the rise since the late 2000s. Meanwhile, powder cocaine, crack
cocaine and marijuana traffickers have been on the decline.

Here's a look at the states with the stiffest drug trafficking
sentences in 2016:

Map of Mississippi. (Photo: bgblue, Getty Images)

* Average sentence: 108 months (9 years)

Map of Iowa. (Photo: bgblue, Getty Images)

* Average sentence: 107 months (8.9 years)

Map of Kansas. (Photo: bgblue, Getty Images)

* Average sentence: 107 months (8.9 years)

Map of South Carolina. (Photo: bgblue, Getty Images)

* Average sentence: 105 months (8.8 years)

Map of Virginia. (Photo: bgblue, Getty Images)

* Average sentence: 105 months (8.8 years)

Map of Louisiana (Photo: bgblue, Getty Images)

* Average sentence: 104 months (8.7 years)

Map of Indiana. (Photo: bgblue, Getty Images)

* Average sentence: 102 months (8.5 years)

Map of Oklahoma. (Photo: bgblue, Getty Images)

* Average sentence: 95 months (7.9 years)

Map of Hawaii. (Photo: bgblue, Getty Images)

* Average sentence: 92 months (7.7 years)

Map of South Dakota. (Photo: bgblue, Getty Images)

* Average sentence: 92 months (7.7 years)
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MAP posted-by: Matt